Bangladesh peacekeeper shot in Darfur

Khartoum - Gunmen on Sunday shot and killed a Bangladeshi policeman serving with the African Union-UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region, the mission said, adding to a recent surge of violence.

Another Unamid policeman was wounded in the attack on their compound in the South Darfur capital Nyala, a Unamid statement said.

The Bangladeshi, whose name was not released, "lost his life at approximately 03:15 (00:15 GMT), when a gang surrounded and fired at the staff in the mission's community policing centre inside the Otash camp for internally displaced persons," Unamid said.

"The armed men fled after the police unit returned fire."

There was no detail on the identity of the attackers or their motive.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an April report to the UN Security Council, said criminality "has emerged as the most significant threat to civilians and humanitarian workers", including in camps for displaced people.

To address the new security environment, the Security Council on July 31 trimmed the size of the Unamid mission, which will still have about 21 000 soldiers and police.

Unamid says 38 of its peacekeepers have been killed since the initial deployment more than four years ago.

Air strikes

In other recent unrest, Sudanese security forces in Nyala shot dead eight people during a protest sparked by high prices on 31 July.

Last Thursday, Unamid said it had received reports from fleeing villagers of air strikes west of Shangil Tobay, south of the North Darfur state capital El Fasher. Rebels are active in the area, the army said.

On Friday the UN reported that 25 000 people have been displaced around the North Darfur town of Kutum after unrest that began with the killing of a government official.

Rebels drawn from black African tribes rose against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003 in a conflict the UN estimates killed at least 300 000 people. The government said 10 000 died.

Clashes between rebels and government troops, banditry and inter-ethnic fighting continue in the region but violence is much less than at its peak nearly a decade ago.

The UN says about 1.7 million people are still living in camps in Darfur.